Naval ensign

Naval ensign - Image by by Željko Heimer, 12 November 2003

The naval ensign (literally "war flag", ratna zastava,
since in Serbian there is no specific word for an ensign) is
prescribed in Article 1 of the 1922
law.
The flag is horizontally divided blue-white-red, with the
national coat of arms off-set to the
hoist. The ratio of the flag is 2:3. The vertical axis of the coat of
arms is placed half the flag height from the hoist. The height of the
coat of arms (not icluding the orb and cross atop the crown) is half
the flag height.
Neubecker (1939) [neu39] gives
for the height of the orb and cross an additional 1/30 of the flag
height but that is certainly a value "from practice" since the law
does not prescribe it. Neubecker also gives the total crown height as
5/30 and the shield height 11/30 of the flag height.
The coat of arms is set so that the upper border of the shield
lies on the border between the blue and white stripes of the flag.
The 11 unit high shield would therefore overlap the red stripe for
10% of its width (that is 10 units).

Financial Control ensign

Financial Control ensign - Image by Željko
Heimer, 16 November 2003

The Financial Control ensign (zastava jedinica financijske
kontrole) is prescribed in the 1937
law. The flag is horizontally divided blue-white-red with the
national coat of arms placed in the
blue stripe near the hoist.
The height of the coat of arms is 3/10 of the height of the flag
and its vertical axis is set at 1/8 of the flag length from the
hoist.

Željko Heimer, 16 November 2003

Harbour Police ensign

Harbour Police ensign - Image by Željko
Heimer, 12 November 2003

The Harbour Police ensign (literally "flag of the Harbour Police",
zastava lučke policije) is prescribed in Article 4 of the
1922 law.
The flag is horizontally divided blue-white-red, with two blue
anchors crossed in saltire in the middle of the white stripe. The
ratio of the flag is 2:3.
The law does not determine the anchor size. Flaggenbuch
1939 [neu39] gives the height of the
emblem as 90% of the height of the white stripe.
I have no idea how much this special state ensign was used in
practice. Probably only the largest posts had ships.

Reserve Naval Officer's ensign

Reserve Naval Officer's ensign, left, first version (1922), right, second version (1937) - Images by Željko Heimer, 16 November 2003

The Reserve Naval Officer ensign (literally "flag for Reserve
Naval Officers", zastava za rezervne pomorske oficire) is
prescribed in Article 3 of the 1922
law.
The flag is horizontally divided blue-white-red, with a white
fouled anchor surmonted with the yellow royal crown in the blue
stripe near the hoist. The ratio of the flag is 2:3.
The law determines the distance between the hoist and the anchor
as 1/3 of the height of the blue stripe, and the width of the anchor
to be equal to that also. It does not say anything about the height
of the emblem.
It would be interesting to find out if this special ensign was
ever warranted. The Ministry of Traffic was responsible (by the 1922
law) to produce rules for the granting of the ensign and probably had
a register of granted warrants.

Flaggenbuch[neu39] shows
the emblem entirely yellow (as prescribed in the
1937 law) but sets it a bit further
from the hoist (20% more). This possibly follows the 1937 law (or one
inbetween).

Željko Heimer, 16 November 2003

Honour Naval ensign

The Honour Naval ensign (počasna ratna zastava) is
prescribed in the 1937 law. It was
granted to certain naval ships as a symbol of merit. It is entirely equal to the
usual naval ensign of the period. The only difference was that the Honour ensign
was (presumably) ceremoniously presented to the unit deserving it.
The law prescribes that the grantee was allowed to include his own personal emblem - a coat of arms or an other personal symbol - in the flag in some
unobtrusive place, preferably in the upper hoist in the blue
field.

Honour Naval ensign? - Image by Željko
Heimer, 1 August 2004

The above design is shown by some sources as the Honour Naval ensign, but its real status is unknown.